Stuart McCall says Rangers could have competition for Jamie Murphy

Motherwell manager Stuart McCall believes Rangers could face competition from clubs in England for the signature of Jamie Murphy.

The striker is out of contract at the end of the season and reports at the weekend suggest he is one of a number of players on Ally McCoist’s radar.

Rangers are under a SFA transfer embargo but could formally complete the move on 1 September once their registration ban is lifted. A switch to Ibrox would mean dropping down the divisions and McCall says he has no idea whether the player would be tempted by such a move.

However, the Fir Park boss would be surprised if his former club proved to be the only interested party.

He said: “A lot of our players will be linked with clubs and Jamie has been in very good form of late and he’s a terrific talent. It wouldn’t surprise me if Jamie is linked with lots of clubs.”

Asked if Murphy would be interested in Rangers, McCall said: “It’s not for me to say, you would have to ask Jamie. He just gets on with his football. His contract is until the end of the season and, if he is leaving, he will want to go out playing his best football.

“It might not be Rangers – it might be Premiership clubs or Championship clubs in England. Who knows? If it is Rangers, that’s one he would have to decide himself.”

He added: “If there are going to be players departing at the end of the season, then we want to make this the best season that we possibly can. There are lots of players we would love to keep but we live in a realistic world. I don’t think there is any doubt there will be a part of the squad that will be departing but it would be nice to keep a few.”

Meanwhile, McCall hopes Darren Randolph escapes retrospective punishment following an incident in Saturday’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League game against Hearts. The goalkeeper collided with Callum Paterson during the goalless draw but referee Crawford Allan opted to take no action. Speaking ahead of tonight’s game at Dundee United, McCall said: “The referee couldn’t have been any nearer. He deemed it wasn’t anything malicious, it was a coming together and a collision. Last season, when the compliance officer was brought in, it was for things that the referee, fourth official or linesman didn’t see. I was a little bit surprised to see all this talk but we will just have to wait and see. It’s not ideal because we’ve got a game on Tuesday.”

On the incident, he added: “Camera angles are different. Certainly, with one camera angle behind the goal, it doesn’t look too clever. From the angle I saw it the first time, and the angle at the side, it looks as though Darren is coming out, as all goalkeepers do, to protect himself. There is a little bit of the foot flicking out at probably the last second but all angles are different.

“Unfortunately, Darren has caught the boy and it probably looks worse than it is. He’s certainly not malicious, it’s not something he has done before or does on a regular occasion.”

Dundee United winger Gary Mackay-Steven has been ruled out for at least a month with a fractured hand. The 23-year-old, who has scored three times in six appearances since returning from a knee injury, was replaced by Richie Ryan after 71 minutes of Saturday’s 2-1 win at Ross County.

The former Liverpool trainee, signed for United from Airdrie, is now set to be out until the turn of the year. United manager Peter Houston said: “At the time he didn’t know it was broken, his hands were so cold. He knew he was hurt and he came off. We took him to the hospital as soon as we got back to Dundee and unfortunately he’s got two wee broken bits in his hand.”

United also announced French defender Gregory Vignal has left the club by mutual agreement for “family reasons”.

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